tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847726438549548415.post1151039204613180402..comments2024-02-16T02:30:14.517-06:00Comments on My Sears Catalog Life: Anna KareninaSvetlanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16272646356413479534noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847726438549548415.post-77374076069649054422011-04-18T16:24:20.681-05:002011-04-18T16:24:20.681-05:00It is indeed. I think that the drug-addledness of...It is indeed. I think that the drug-addledness of her decline is often overlooked, instead being seen as a romantic thing, but you are right. I also think the contrast between her and Levin is striking.<br /><br />I've heard a couple of interesting anecdotes. One is that Levin is supposed to be Tolstoy.<br /><br />The other is that once at a party, a woman came up and gave him grief about the way AK ends, and he said something to the effect that it surprised him when she did that too, characters have a life of their own. I find that so fascinating.Mimihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02645484704486562810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847726438549548415.post-73903113465599880532011-04-16T03:27:52.580-05:002011-04-16T03:27:52.580-05:00I agree. She really does get into a drug induced c...I agree. She really does get into a drug induced cycle of self-loathing and vicious jealousy. It becomes a real psychotic break in the end what with her 'harem' of adorers collected by her brother and her ability and desire to lash out at those who find her piteous (like her meeting with Dolly and Kitty on her way to her doom). <br /><br />His depiction is frightenly accurate of that opiod state. Did you notice her transgression from some morphine to so much morphine her aunt (a truly awful creature) actually complains and then abandons her and then finally to opium. Whereas Levins suffering is born and analyses, her avoidance of suffering and her cooperation with temptation send her running off a cliff of her own creation. <br />Frightening stuff.Svetlanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16272646356413479534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847726438549548415.post-55447726360755088122011-04-15T14:57:21.381-05:002011-04-15T14:57:21.381-05:00I have read "Anna Karenina" three times....I have read "Anna Karenina" three times. The last time, in a far better translation than the old Garnett I'd done previously.<br /><br />One of the things that I've always carried,and I think is key, is my professor said, "I keep noting her drug use this time I'm reading it" - I think that she gets more and more into opium (? is that what it was) as their relationship breaks up, and she slides away from him, from the kids, from her life. It's truly key to assessing the novel, I think.Mimihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02645484704486562810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847726438549548415.post-892692212418188782011-04-15T10:44:15.193-05:002011-04-15T10:44:15.193-05:00You've conveyed that experience that great lit...You've conveyed that experience that great literature gives, of seeing ourselves more clearly. I haven't read Anna -- I know I should!GretchenJoannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13641677400029070452noreply@blogger.com